Welcome to the Ghost Turd Stories Podcast
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Ghost Turd Stories. I'm your host, Troy Gent.
Troy Gent (Host):I served as an enlisted active duty infantryman in the Marine Corps from 1997 to 2001. I achieved the rank of sergeant during that time. After going to college and working from 2001 to 2007, I entered Officer Candidate School and earned a commission in the Marines and became what Marines call a Mustang.
Troy Gent (Host):I served again as an infantry officer from 2007 to 2011.
Troy Gent (Host):During my two obligations, I deployed to Okinawa twice, Guam, Thailand, and Afghanistan, where I served as an infantry platoon commander on the front lines against the Taliban.
Troy Gent (Host):I left the Marines as a First Lieutenant.
Troy Gent (Host):Ghost Turd Stories' mission is using humorous stories from veterans and first responders to reduce the burden of families whose veteran or first responder took their own life.
Troy Gent (Host):Ghost Turd Stories' vision is to use humor from veteran and first responders stories to prevent suicide within our ranks and reduce the burden of families whose veteran or first responder took their own life.
Troy Gent (Host):I've been directly impacted by suicide by some of the closest people in my life.
Troy Gent (Host):The person closest to me in my life has struggled her whole life with various mental health challenges, including suicide ideation. In 2005, my mother's boyfriend, who was like a second father to me, and a gunboat captain during the Korean War shot himself. It was a huge loss, but after losing one of my very best friends from the Marines in 2023 to suicide, I decided to do something about it. At Ghost Turd Stories, we provide an environment to tell funny and sometimes difficult stories about our experiences in the line of duty.
Troy Gent (Host):We believe that a major way to relieve the stressors of life is to be able to talk, laugh, cry, and share our experiences while in the service of our country and communities without fear of offense.
Troy Gent (Host):At times on this podcast we will need to use aliases and give vague details about the individual being interviewed to not only protect their identity, but the identity of others as well as the integrity of the service they are in and or were in. These stories are mostly meant to be funny, but we also don't want to embarrass anyone who was involved or caused division among any of our brothers and sisters in arms.
Troy Gent (Host):We hope to attract veterans and first responders as well as those interested in knowing more about what it's like to be in our shoes while we wear or wore those shoes.
